The pumping of water, sand and chemicals underground at pressure to crack rocks and release gas dominated headlines in 2013. Fracking for shale gas, even if the process has not actually been producing much energy beyond its homeland in the US, has barely been out of the public consciousness.

Public figures and industry bodies lined up to say the technology should go ahead in the UK, from David Cameron down to geologists, water companies and some environmentalists, and the government laid out sweeteners of £100,000 for communities who live near any shale gas wells that are fracked.

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton, was arrested for refusing to move from a sit-in outside a fracking site entrance in Balcombe. Photograph: Dave Evans/Corbis

The ramping up of exploration and awareness around shale gas is part of the wider picture of fossil fuel companies looking for unconventional sources of energy. Elsewhere, companies continued their efforts to push into the Arctic to drill for oil and gas.

When a small group of Greenpeace activists boarded one of those efforts, a Gazprom rig in the Barents Sea, it inadvertently turned into one of the biggest stories of the year.

From left to right: Nigel Cann site director of Hinkley Point C, Ed Davey, David Cameron, Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF and Henri Proglio, CEO and chairman of EDF, examine site plans for Hinkley C nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images